Memory Alpha:Perspektivo
Memory Alpha's point of view (POV) is that of a character inside the fictional Star Trek universe – an archivist at Memory Alpha, the Federation library planet. Because Star Trek stories take place in many different eras, from the beginnings of life on Earth to the 29th century and beyond, and because forthcoming stories may even expand beyond that, it is important to write all articles from a single perspective: i.e. that of someone looking back at the past. This helps to keep Memory Alpha consistent and understandable. If it helps, pretend that we're writing and viewing this data archive long after the Star Trek universe as we know it has ceased to exist. Star Trek universe articles should be written as if the described person, object, or event actually existed or occurred, exactly like in a normal encyclopedia, but with an omniscient writer. Think of Memory Alpha as an encyclopedia that exists in the Star Trek universe. The only exceptions to this rule are articles about the Star Trek franchise and production (eg. articles on books, comics, actors, staff, etc.), which naturally are not part of the Star Trek universe (see the template for further details). Tense The point of view that should be used in regular articles is that of someone living long after the Star Trek era, but in the same universe. This means using the past tense in all instances. For "eternal" concepts, such as ideas, they may be qualified with a time setting, thus placing them into context. For example, the idea of a "starship" is "eternal", but a specific starship is not. Some examples of how tense should be used on Memory Alpha : :The Enterprise was a starship in the 24th century. :Penguins were waterfowl indigenous to Earth until at least the 21st century. :The Constitution-class is a class of starship that was used by Starfleet in the 23rd century. The tense that should be used is simple past tense. Usage of the conditional is incorrect, such as: :Later, Voyager would encounter an automated missile that had been reprogrammed by Torres while she was still in the Maquis. The proper use of the conditional is with an if-then type syntax, such as: :The new prototype that Torres had created would have allowed the Pralor robots to win their war against the Cravic robots. In that example, the robots "would" have been able to do something, if something else had happened – in this case, if Torres had allowed them to. For articles with the flag, the tense should be the same as a standard encyclopedia in the present day. Citing sources and background information Due to its nature, background information, apocrypha, and citations of the sources used naturally occurs outside the POV. Background information and apocrypha is considered to fall under the "real world" POV and, as such, should be restricted to the appropriate sections. See the Manual of Style for more information. See Cite Your Sources for information on how to cite your sources in episodes. Undisclosed information There are some cases in Star Trek stories in which it was made clear that certain information is highly classified, or entirely unknown due to memory wipes or similar plot twists. While in theory these things are not known to anyone within the Star Trek universe, Memory Alpha's POV is all-knowing, just like the television viewer. Conflicts in valid resources If there are subjects that have conflicting references in the stories, simply add all the given information, and optionally add a background note explaining that there is a conflict. Similarly, if two subjects have very similar names, that conceivably could have been meant to be the same (eg trititanium vs. tritanium), create both articles and only hint at the similarity in background notes. Examples Use :"...Spock was a half-Human, half-Vulcan, who served as science officer – and later first officer – aboard the USS Enterprise..." Instead of :"...Spock is the famous half-Human, half-Vulcan of Star Trek: The Original Series (TOS)..." Related pages * Cite your sources * Establish context * Guide to Layout * Manual of Style * , a template to tag articles written from the real world point of view Point of view de:Memory Alpha:Erzählperspektive pl:Memory Alpha:Punkt widzenia pt-br:Memória Alfa:Ponto de vista